


Two of Pentacles: Toby Esterhase

by PegasusWrites



Category: LE CARRE John - Works, Smiley's People - John Le Carré
Genre: Community: allbingo, Gen, Toby Esterhase invents friendship: a fic, so heads up for that, this work contains several spoilers for Smiley's People
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-18 19:58:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16125644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PegasusWrites/pseuds/PegasusWrites
Summary: Toby lives a pleasant life, when it's not being ruined by the Circus.





	Two of Pentacles: Toby Esterhase

It had been a perfectly fine day right up until the point when Toby Esterhase’s secretary walked into his office and said, “I’m sorry sir, but there’s a man from banking outside who wants to speak with you. It seems rather urgent.”

Toby wasn’t sure afterwards what tipped him off. Perhaps it was the way her eyes kept wandering to the small safe that Toby kept on the top of his filing cabinet in the corner. Perhaps it was the nervous expression on her face - the look of a person who expects to lose her job at any moment. Whatever it was, Toby noticed. He straightened his jacket and put on his most winning smile.

“Thank you very much, Dorothy,” he said - Toby always remembered his secretaries’ first names. “Would you kindly tell the man that I will be out to meet him shortly? I have a couple of small matters that I must attend to first.”

Dorothy nodded pleasantly and left the room. As soon as she was gone, Toby went over to his window and opened it wide. Then - shoving his few personal effects into his pockets - he swung out of the window and lowered himself down into the shrubbery below. Having a ground floor office was, as Toby saw it, one of the many perks of demotion. He strolled around to a side door, let himself back into the building, then left through the main atrium. His exit was uncontested. The janitors barely noticed he was there.

Once he was clear of the building he called his wife from a phone box. He told her, indirectly, what had happened to him at work - they had a prearranged code for this eventuality, though Toby had never believed it might actually happen. She wasn’t surprised, or even that angry with him. All she said was, “Oh Toby, you silly goose.”

Six months would pass before he spoke to her again. At the time he was unconcerned - he knew she would manage. He did, however, feel rather guilty that he had left it up to her her to explain all of this to their children.

By the end of the day the Circus had issued a description of Toby to border control, in the hopes that Toby might be apprehended as he tried to leave the country. Their impulse was a just one, but as it happened Toby never intended to leave the country. He went to ground for several months and when he re-emerged, he did so in London.

*

Toby watched George’s receding back, and shook his head. _Oh dear._

He didn’t follow George out of the basement room - it wouldn’t be wise for him to be seen above ground at this hour - but he wished that he could have. He needed to clear his head, and the basement was so stuffy. He called after George - the words were automatic, he hardly knew what he said - then he slumped down in a chair that did not belong to him and heaved an uncharacteristic sigh.

Toby was troubled. Toby was not often troubled, which made the experience doubly uncomfortable. He had made a nice life for himself, after he had left the Circus. Being an art dealer, as it turned out, was rather like being a cyclist - once one had learned how to ride a bicycle, one never truly forgot. He was provided for. His wife and children were provided for - within reason. Last month’s unpleasantness between himself and his bank manager had been settled in a manner that was so satisfactory to him that he was considering taking his one faithful shop assistant out to celebrate. (Her name was Celine - shop girls, it turned out, liked having their names remembered too.)

So what was the reason for all this unease?

It was George. Toby knew that he was as susceptible to George’s peculiar charms as anyone else, and doubly so since Toby had once been George's agent. Toby knew that he had no desire to become a spy again - at least, not for the job’s sake. He’d never really wanted to be a spy in the first place, but as it turned out spying was another skill that, once learned, lasted one a lifetime. It was the people Toby missed the most, when he thought about it. He met some interesting people in this line of work, but none of them seemed to like him very much. Of course, he had never had that many friends at the Circus, but people had always had the manners to pretend.

And then there was George.

Toby had always liked George. George had saved Toby’s life once, but Toby didn’t hold that against him. George had also gotten Toby fired - indirectly, of course - and Toby could not have thanked him enough. But now, it seemed as though George was determined to get himself killed. That, as it turned out, was not something that Toby could allow. Not when Toby had the power to do something about it.

Toby sighed. When one looked at things from that perspective it was rather a shame that George had dropped in on him that afternoon.

Toby had so enjoyed living an uncomplicated life.

**Author's Note:**

> Toby's a total bastard but I love him.
> 
> Many thanks to [AreYouReady](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AreYouReady/pseuds/AreYouReady) for cheerleading!
> 
> This story was written for [All Bingo's](https://allbingo.dreamwidth.org/) [1000 Words or Less Fest](https://allbingo.dreamwidth.org/113827.html). Find my bingo card [here](https://pegasuswrites.dreamwidth.org/14005.html).


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